Final post

I must say that I really enjoyed this. I like writing and I think that this has helped me very much. Everytime I write i'm inmediately checking my grammar. Sometimes, when i'm writing fast I make some mistakes with speliung haha see? Spelling.

If you, reader, find any mistakes I would be pleased if you let me know right away in order to fix my mistakes. I need to learn from them.

I missed Mr Litman's last class and I'm sorry but I was working in my seminary. I'm sure Mr Litman understands.

What I didn't like about posting was the error that sometimes I got when I was trying to post. Erasing html codes it's a pain in the neck!

I would like if we could receive an email every time we get a comment. There are no notification when we get one, you just need to look for them (if any).

This is not the end of my writing, that's for sure.

If you want you can check my other blog. Even though I haven't updated it in a while. That's because I haven't got the time to do it but I'm sure I'll have it soon.

My Other Blog

Cartoons, Tv and Video games

November 18th, 08
(part 4)

This was the last presentation of this day. Felipe was in charge of it. He talked about Cartoons, Tv and Video games.

Felipe showed us that kids and teenagers see more English words that we think. In cartoon, Tv and Video games we can find many words that kids recognize and sometimes they know how to pronounce them correctly.

As an example of this we can find the anime series "pokemon" which it means pocket monsters. In this anime series we can find characters with strange names that turn out to be english words. For example "Ekans" means "Snake" and its evolution is "Arbok" which means "Kobra". You just need to unscramble the letters.

Felipe also talked about many sitcoms that we see everyday on Tv such as friends, prison break, Two and a half men, etc. These sitcoms don't change their names in latinamerican countries, which helps students to know at least some words in english.

Felipe made a very interesting and original presentation that none of us expected. Great job.

Role playing games in Education

November 18th, 08
(part 3)

After Evelyn's presentation, Claudio started his presentation about RPGs or Role Playing Games in education. He started presenting what a Role Playing Game is. Is a game in which the participants assume the roles of fictional characters. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines. Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvise; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game.

Claudio not only presented RPGs, he also related this topic with education. How? I'll tell you.

He said that when you play these games you develop critical thinking and speaking. Even though is in another language rather than English, you might develop a way to give ideas more clearly.

Claudio as moderator (the one that control other characters and gives instructions) can cope with his empathy and develop a better way of teaching. Yes, teaching. This has helped him to re-discover pedagogy where he can teach and feel comfortable.

This proves that even though this game looks like a waste of time, it is good for using it with students once in a while, in order to help them increase critical thinking and speaking.

Claudio did a great job. He introduced a very original topic that we have never expected to see. He related this topic with pedagogy and it turned out to be a very interesting way of teaching, and it also helps in the learning process. He explained well and made it very clear. Nice job.

Teachers burnout

November 18th, 08
(part 2)

After Pedro's presentation Evelyn started with her presentation. She started with a video of a teacher losing control of himself in a classroom. This video introduced the topic of "Teacher burnout".

Burnout: extreme tiredness usually caused by working too much*

A Teacher burnout is when a teacher loses control and get nervous, desperate, anxious and stresses and its reflected in an emotional and physical crash.

Evelyn talked about this and just like as Nicole, she presented some ideas (tips) to not lose control and remain calmed.

This was a very interesting topic which introduced new vocabulary as well. It was a very well organized presentation and not boring at all.

* From Cambridge Dictionary.

Communication as the base for a good relation with parents

November 18th, 08
(part 1)

The previous tuesday (Nov 11th) I was absent. I read and heard about the presentation that my classmate Rodrigo made. It was about course book. I might talk about it but I don't think I can add much because I wasn't there.

This day (Nov 18) We had 4 presentations. The first one was about Communication and it was presented by Pedro. He talked about the communication between parents and children and how this create a very good relation among them.

He gave some tips such as saying "I love you" or "I care about you" once in a while to make children realize how much you love them and care about. Parents should demonstrate this kind of love to their kids, maybe not using words but at least showing them some affection, a gesture or something.

Nowadays we have a lot of families facing drug, behavior, violence problems and we can find that some of the causes are the parents' fault. It all starts with the education at home. If we give our kids a good communication and good values they will grow up knowing that their families have taught them the most important value: love.

Femicide is not fashionable

November 4th, 08

After Nicole's presentation, Katherinne talked about femicide. She presented the ads from a well-known brand of clothing: FES. In this ads we could see a man beating a woman. It is a campaign about femicide but the images talk more than the words and the idea of this ads gets misunderstood by some people.

Katherinne mentioned ideas related to femicide that we have seen through other presentations, tv and newspapers but she related this topic with the idea of making it fashionable. Nowadays our society is getting used to hearing about this kind of problems. More men are killing their wives or girlfriends because of jealously, anger or just madness. This is the world we are building? Where are we going to stop? I think that our society is loosing sense. We will never become a very well developed country if we continue like this. We are not going anywhere. It's a shame but its the truth.

At the end Katherinne made a very good presentation with a very interesting topic in a fresh way.

Stress at the end of the year

November 4th, 08

This class, Nicole talked about the stress that we as teachers might cope with at the end of the year. She gave us some tips to help us control our emotions and maintain calm.

One of the most remarkable points she talked about was about not carrying the problems of the school back home. We as teachers have right to have a regular life with a regular family. If we take our problems back home it won't be good for our families and our mental health.

The end of the year is always a period of stress. Teachers, students and other professionals face this kind of situation and we should remain calmed and try to find a way to work things out. Not everything is lost. Just breathe and remain calmed. Don't panic!

I think Nicole made a very good presentation, and even though she was a little bit nervous she did a good job. She explained well and moved around. We could see that this presentation was well-prepared.

Estatuto docente: Una tragedia peor que el transantiago

October 14th, 08

The second topic which we had to make a research for was the "Estatuto Docente". Mario Waissbluth, a teacher from Universidad de Chile, wrote an article for the magazine "Qué Pasa" on August 23rd, 08. He talked about the dramatic situation that our education is going through. He revealed some ideas that were floating in the air but nobody really saw.

He made a lot of studies, researches and statistics. He interviewed education experterts, directors of schools, teachers and students with the idea of getting a picture of the quality of education in Chile. At the end the conclusions were not good at all. He made some comparisons with private universities and public universities.

At the end the situation he described showed that the students of pedagogy get into the university with a lack of knowledge in certain aspects -that can be proved with the scores that a student gets in PSU- and come out of the university after some years with the same limitations.

I think that this problem will be restricting us as teachers for a long time. The quality of education in this country is not so good and we are moving too slow if we want to change this situation. I think that solving this problem will required not some, but many years.

Here's the complete article

Educación 2020

October 14th, 08

Mr Litman told us to make a research about Educación2020.

Educación2020 is a project that wants to improve the education in Chile. 20% of the poorest students in Chile will have the same level of education than the 20% of the richest students by the year 2020. This is their proposal.

They are trying to make a change in education, where students and teachers get more importance and more equivalence. A teacher that teaches in poor schools should have the same level than a teacher that teaches in rich schools. Students from public, private and semi-private schools should have the same level of education.

This might seem only dreams, but this is their dream and they are trying to make it true.

To read more about it follow this link:

Educación2020
(Spanish)

C-ya!

Smartboards

October 7th, 08

After Fernanda's presentation Daniela talked about Smartboards and their advantages for learning. She assisted to a seminary in Universidad Finis Terrae where she could get some information and realize of the great benefit that this smartboards mean.

Only a few schools in Chile are using this kind of method to teach. It is very expensive, but very helpful. Some schools use this smartboards not only to present topics and ideas, but for playing as well. Students can learn by practicing and playing at the same time. Specially in english, where it gets easier and quicker to learn this language.

The use of new technologies are doing everything so much easier than before. With this kind of tools teaching can be so much fun for kids and we as teachers can save some time and have fun at the same time.

Gender Bias

October 7th, 08

This day Fernanda presented the topic of "Gender Bias". Even though i wasn't there, I can say some things about it.

“Gender bias is difficult to detect because it affects girls and boys in different ways. In school, it is the boys who may be expected to “act out” and rebel at school work, while the girls are expected to be docile, conforming and willing to work hard" (Sadker 1994)

There has been a lot of misunderstanding with the idea of gender. In English we commonly refer to some words using "man" or "men" to talk about men and women. For example the word "cameraman" works for both man and woman but it has a connotative resemblance to man only.

I think this is a very interesting topic we just leave aside and don't pay attention to it until we see it. Somethings aren't discovered until you find them. It wouldn't be correct to criticize her movement or how she did because I wasn't there to give my opinion. But i could say that Fernanda is a great student and I'm sure she did it well.

Suicide and depression in teenagers

September 30th, 08

After my presentation, my friend Eduardo presented his topic: "Suicide and depression in teenagers". He talked about some cases in Chile where some girls have committed suicide because of bullying and other stuff. He presented some statistics with suicides and presented the common causes of depression in teenagers. We as teachers need to be aware of this topic because we don't know what's going on inside the head of our students. We need to pay attention to our students if we ever get to see some symptoms. A teacher needs to be positive and empathic with his/her students in order to help them overcome these kind of problems that causes depression and suicide.

I think Eduardo did a very good job; very well explained, organized and good distribution of timing.

My presentation about How to talk about drugs with your students

September 30th, 08

I was the first one in the class to start with the new single presentations with a free topic. My decision was "How to talk about drugs with your students". I talk about some tips that teachers may use at the moment of talking about drugs in the class. Whether you have drug problems with your students or not, it is very suitable to know how to talk with them about this topic in a good way, never too rush, never too aggressive. There are several tips but one of the most important is to talk with confidence and empathy. Students need to feel that you are near, show them your support and not your negativity to the topic. Be polite and talk about it very calmed and relaxed. If you know that some of your students consume drugs, don't look at them at all times, treat them like every other student. Being impartial is very important at the moment of talking with them. Leave your prejudices behind.

I was very confidence when i stood in the front of the class. Each day i feel more comfortable with myself. Each day gets easier to talk in front of a class. I think i caught my classmates' attention as i wanted to.

Don't be too rush with your students!

A class about future plans and group conversation

September 29th, 08
(Recuperative class)

We talked about our future plans for next year. All of us (only a few of us went to class) shared our expectations and plans for next year, where we are going to be a professional with a degree. (Most of us) We talked about our dreams and real expectations of work, personal interests and projects.

We also talked about the awareness of a group conversation. Many times we don't realize that a group might help our development in society. It works as a social contact, a growing experience where you can share experiences and criticize and debate about different topics. We as teachers need to develop these kind of contact with our students. They can share information but some of them are not very good at expressing ideas. A group conversation also increases our way of thinking and speaking. We can develop ideas easier than in others ways.

An important page to visit once in a while:

www.education2020.com

C-ya.

Curfew For Teenagers

September 30th, 08

This class we had the last debate made by Marlen, Clara and Claudia; our classmates from the other section.

They talked about a "Curfew For Teenagers" and presented the idea of using a curfew in Chile to stop teenagers of being doing bad things in the streets at night. They talked about the risks, the violence and drugs, the situation with other countries and its advantages. This discussion topic was about this; if either we could apply this curfew in Chile or not.

The majority of my classmates chose the idea of not having a curfew for teenagers because that would only bring more problems with them such as insubordination. They would feel oppressed and would feel like getting away from their parents and home to do some "illegal or bad things" because the temptation is bigger. Interesting topic though, even though the girls weren't very good at managing the debate like they should.

Project Zero

September 22nd, 08

This day Daniela, Katerine and Nadia talked about Project Zero, a project at Harvard studying Multiple Inteligences. It was founded in 1967 to study and improve education in and through the arts. This project says that arts should be studied as a serious cognitive activity to motivate the new communities of reflective independent learners to improve their critical and creative skills.

The girls said that there were not much information about this project because it is limited. We can realized now that this is true. If you look for it on the internet you won't find much information about it. The creators from harvard wanted that way.

The debate was about having a project zero here in Chile or not. At the end we realized that to accomplish this we would need more money to spend in education and right now education is facing other problems such as the LOCE. This wouldn't be a good time to start spending in this kind of project, even though is a good idea.

I think the debate was very well controlled by the girls, as well as the presentation itself. Very interesting topic we didn't know about.

Pre-Universitarios in Chile

September 9th, 08

Even though i missed this class, i know what the debate was about. This day Claudio, Marlene and Paula presented the topic of Pre-Universitarios in Chile and the question for the debate was whether we agree with the use of Pre-universitary courses or not.

The class was divided into "for" and "against" as usual and a lot of people said that they were very helpful with the PSU, which allows you to get into the Universities. Some other people said that we don't actually need this kind of Pre-universitarios because we have all the studies we need at school. We just don't study enough.


I think this is a very interesting topic and in my personaly opinion i don't think they help very much, because it is all in your own effort. You could save some money if you study on your own, you just need some routine or some guidance, that's all.

My presentation about if anyone could be a teacher.

September 2nd, 08

This day, Fernanda, Felipe and I presented our debate. First, we talked about two different realities where teachers are highly rewarded in terms of prestige and income; Finland and South Korea. Then, we talked about the reality in Chile, where we only have "Red de Maestros de maestros" to support teachers' training program. We (teachers) don't have enough resources for education and we don't get a high wage. In Chile there are some teachers that don't neccessarily required a degree in pedagogy to teach, they only required some knowledge in the specific area such as maths. Is a shame but in Chile anyone could teach, but to be a teacher you need passion and devotion for teaching, otherwise you would be teaching for obligation and you won't teach well.

Anyway, our presentation turned out to work well. My classmates participate in the debate and we did all right. There were some mistakes in the power point but i don't care really; those are just silly mistakes we didn't notice at time.

My result of The Test

Keirsey Temperament Sorter Test

This is a very interesting test which helps you to discover the personality type you are. There are 70 questions you have to answer honestly and after that you will get the description of your personality.

My personality type is Artesan.

Artisans have exceptionally keen senses, and love working with their hands. They seem right at home with tools, instruments, and vehicles of all kinds, and their actions are usually aimed at getting them where they want to go, and as quickly as possible.

This devil-may-care attitude also gives the Artisans a winning way with people, and they are often irresistibly charming with family, friends, and co-workers.

Artisans want to be where the action is; they seek out adventure and show a constant hunger for pleasure and stimulation. They believe that variety is the spice of life, and that doing things that aren't fun or exciting is a waste of time. Artisans are impulsive, adaptable, competitive, and believe the next throw of the dice will be the lucky one. They can also be generous to a fault, always ready to share with their friends from the bounty of life. Above all, Artisans need to be free to do what they wish, when they wish. They resist being tied or bound or confined or obligated; they would rather not wait, or save, or store, or live for tomorrow. In the Artisan view, today must be enjoyed, for tomorrow may never come.

I must say that at the beginning i didn't agree with my result but once i read the whole description i realized that there were some similarities with my personality. I am impulsive and I do live each day like there were no tomorrow. I live the Carpe Diem. I am also very competitive but generous as well.

I think this is a very interesting test to discover even more about yourself. Sometimes you just don't realize of some characteristics you have until somebody tells you about it.

Peace!

http://www.keirsey.com/sorter/register.aspx

Cuban Education

August 19th, 2008

This class Katherinne, Pedro and Fabian presented their topic and debate about Cuban Education.

Some important facts:

- Cuba maintains the highest rate of literacy in Latin America.
- If they graduate from the preparatory college school, they can attend college for free if they choose.
- The record of Cuban education is outstanding: universal school enrollment and attendance; nearly universal adult literacy.

And they have:

- Great attention to teachers (extensive pre- and in-service training, high status and morale, incentives, transparent system of accountability, strategies for developing a culture of professionalism, rewards for innovation)
- Low-cost instructional materials of high quality

After the presentation with valuable information, they presented the question for the debate which was:

Is it possible to apply this kind of educational system in our country, considering the differences between both cuban and chilean society?

The class was separated into 'for' group and 'against' group. We discussed the possibilities of having a cuban educational system in Chile but the main conclusions were that we are not ready for it because of money and resources for education that our government gives (very low) and the lack of importance in teachers and educational employees in general regarding wages mostly.

They made a great job i think. The topic was very interesting and we all had something to say.

British Educational System. 'Public Schools'

August 12th, 2008

This class Evelyn, María Teresa and Rodrigo presented their debate about Public schools in Britain. They started explaining the vocabulary that we were going to see and then they started their presentation.

A public school in Britain is usually a prestigious and historic school, which charges fees (amount of money), doesn't not arbitrarily restrict admissions, and is financed by bodies (groups of people) other than the state, commonly as a private charitable trust. (organization or group that has control over money used to help)

It is traditionally a single-sex boarding school for children between 11 or 13 and 18.

Schools where instruction is provided free of charge are called 'state schools'.

The debate question was whether we preferred public schools or state schools in Chile. Our arguments were very valid 'against' and 'for' and this group made a good job controlling the debate, besides giving valuable information about this topic.

Learning to learn

That same class that we talked about issues on education we also were assigned to do a little research about "Learning to learn".

Learning is a very personal matter. There isn't one study/learning skill or strategy that works for every person in every situation. Therefore, learning to learn strategies are about learning what you know, learning what you don't know, and learning what to do about it.

Your path for most effective learning:

1- Know Yourself
2- Manage Your Time and Life
3- Improve Your Concentration
4- Know What Study Means & How To Do It
5- Develop A Thinker's Vocabulary
6- Become An Active Reader
7- Become An Active Writer
8- Build Listening & Note taking Skills
9- Know How To Study For & Take Exams
10- Master Every Course

The idea is to develop better learning strategies that work for you. You decide how to study and when to study. These are just recommendations for a better learning.

Issues on Education

August 5th, 2008

This class, Mr Litman talked us about some important issues related to the education of Chile these days. One of them was the jar of water thrown to the minister of education by a student; María Música is her name. Related to this, we talked about the values that parents should give to their children from their childhood. It is important to be polite and have some respect for the older people and the ones in authority. Obviously, Maria Música didn't respect any of this. The Parental responsability is very important in case like this.

We also talked about the school violence these days and the problems that are relating teachers. One of these problems is the one related with violence against teachers. Is not a new situation but it appears in newspapers' headlines once in a while.

Mr Litman also talked us about the Internalizer and the Externalizer. The Internalizer is the one that is affected by his/her inside factors and the Externalizer the one that is affected by the outside factors.

First Debate

On July 08th Eduardo, Rodrigo, Dreny and Nicole presented their debate. Their topic was the LOCE (Ley Constitucional de enseñanza) which was published on march 10th, 1990. This law gave the chance to many people of getting involve in the education system in Chile. This law, even though it wasn't good, allowed education to be for everyone in this country.

Dreny and Nicole presented the topic and then Eduardo and Rodrigo created the debate. Our class was separated into to groups. The ones in favor of the LOCE were in one side and the ones against the LOCE were in the other side. I was with the ones in favor and it was very difficult to recognize the positive things of this law. We said that without LOCE we wouldn't have been able to reach the education system that we have now and that the ideal of this law was a long term proposal.

The debate worked very well. My classmates controlled the situation at all times and we gave our opinions respectfully.

Debating in a EFL Classroom.

On June 24th, Mr Litman showed us how a debate should work. He gave us the necessary information to start working in our debates. He showed us a presentation about teaching debate in the EFL classroom. (English foreign language).

The first point was about the benefits of teaching debate in a EFL classroom.

The arguments were the following: To increase our speaking skills, share opinions, develop critical thinking skills, criticize, introduce global issues and develop research skills.

The objectives were:

- Sts should understand and be able to share their opinions, they should become more aware of global and cross-cultural issues, they should gain experience in research and they should increase their knowledge and comprehension of English.

Then there were the steps to follow:

1- Opinions. What is it? How do you express it?
2- Expressing your opinions. Giving reasons. Strong reasons, types of reasons and brainstorming.
3- Supporting your opinion. Opinion-Reason-Support. Types of support and intro to research.
4- Organizing your opinions. Signposts. Organizing an speech. Debate introductions and conclusions.
5- Refutation. Refuting Opinions, types of refutations, stating a refutation, relevance of the refutation.
6- Challenging supports. Testing support (questionable), stating refutation of a source.
7- Organizing your refutation. Organizing the negative case, listen, attack, rebuild. Negative introduction. Refutation format.
8- Debating your opinion. Debate formats, responding to attacks, Taking notes, debate delivery.

To incorporate debate into a classroom you can try brainstorming in your classes, asking for ideas and opinions. This way you can increase the participation in the class and see how well your students are at giving opinions and thinking.

At the end of the class Mr Litman gave us a list with the topics that we are going to use in our debates.

June 17th

On June 17th Mr. Litman talked us about our blogs and our development in the class. Analyzing our participation in the class we realized that we haven’t used communicative strategies very much. We participate giving our opinions sometimes but that is not enough. At the end of the class Mr Litman told us that from now on we were going to do a debate. Micro teaching weren’t participative enough. Now we will be able to make our classmates participate giving their own personal opinions and arguments about an specific topic.

About Blogs...

Last Tuesday we went to the English Laboratory to update our blogs (the ones that forgot about it) and to look for possible mistakes.

I shared some information with some of my classmates and helped them with some problems they had. We had a really peaceful class and Mr Litman gave us some advice about our blogs and talked with my classmates that had doubts about it.

Stay tunned... I will be updating this in a while.

About Students...

This Tuesday Mr. Litman gave us a paper with some information about what’s going on with the secondary students from state schools. They are doing some strikes and riots to be heard. Their aim is to pay more attention to the LGE (General Education Law) and that this one shouldn’t be passed by the parliament. We talked about these issues, which are very important for us as future teachers, and discussed the ideology of this whole situation. The majority of us said that it would be impossible to change the quality of education now. Students fight for justice and equality but inequality is going to be always around the corner.

Anyway, it was a very interesting topic to be discussed with the class. We shared our opinions in group work and then with the whole class.

The second part of the class was in the laboratory, where we looked up for some interesting new in the Monday’s newspaper. La tercera.cl offers a multimedia version that can be seen online. The entire newspaper is there for you to read it.

We read an interesting article about new strategies for parents to keep track of their children at the schools. Parents are able now to look up for grades, behaviour and even if their children are missing a class. They can know immediately if their children are lying. They can search for that information on the web and find out if their children are telling the truth about their grades or not. Some web pages have more users but there are a lot of these. In Chile this has been a resource that parents are using more and more. For some parents it is easier through this way to be aware of how their children are doing at school but for others it is a matter of trust that is being lost. I mean, what happened with the trust in their children? They are cheating when they want to know the results from an exam, per example. They don’t wait for their children to tell them the news. They just look up for it in the web page.

There are some “rebellions” against these web pages. Another web page; facebook, has shown some groups that are against these programs and web pages that their parents are using. Boys and girls show their emotions and share their opinions about this on facebook, where everyday more adepts join these groups.

Troubled adolescents at school

This Tuesday was the presentation of Paula, Marlen and Ma Teresa. Their topic was “Troubled adolescents at school”.

They presented the topic very clearly. They talked about what a troubled adolescent is; some behaviour problems in children, changes caused by poverty, the influence of society and attraction to bad behaviour, among other things.

They presented some risk factors like violence, alcohol and suicide, introduced the acronym of ADHO (Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) which means and special issue of troubled teens, and talked about some special schools that help troubled teenagers such as military schools, boarding schools, and disciplinary camps.

Their presentation was very good. A little bit fast but good. Their activity was very nice. We had to share our opinions in two different cases as a teacher. They didn’t move around that much, though, only when we were discussing the cases. The handout where the cases were had some grammatical and syntax problems, just a few of them. Anyway, they did a good job.

After that presentation we went to the laboratory to know what the page www.educarchile.cl was about.

Bullying again

This Monday was the presentation of Katherine and Nadia. They presented the topic of bullying in schools and they made it differently. 2 groups already presented the topic but these girls gave us new information. They started the micro lesson with a glossary hand out. The vocabulary turned out to be a little bit difficult and unfamiliar but at the end they explained very clear everything about the topic. They made us read some paragraphs from the power point and answer some questions such as “What do you think this is about?” after reading a paragraph or a headline.

The activity was quite good too. They made us share some opinions and talk to the class about our points of view.

They didn’t move around, though. Body language was an important issue that they forgot. I think they need to improve that. Everything else was very good.

That same class Mr. Litman showed us the “life” video again. This time we needed to pay attention to the details. We talked to our classmates and discussed the philosophy, the ideas and the background music. The leader of every group shared the different opinions and everybody listened.

Last monday and tuesday class.

Last Monday Daniela and Evelyn talked about Classroom management. Even though I arrived late (I’m so sorry) I was able to get involved in the presentation. They looked confident in what they said but I think that Daniela looked a little bit nervous. I know that they were worried about the time and that is something that always keeps our minds busy when we are in the middle of a presentation. About the activity part I don’t know what happened. I think it was the same thing; time. I also think they did a good job but they showed a lack of movement and body language. This has been a topic that everybody in the class needs to develop in a higher level. All the previous presentation have presented the same problem, (besides the last part of activities that presents the same problem: weakness) until this Tuesday.

This Tuesday Rodrigo, Felipe and Fernanda presented the topic of Leadership and it was one hell of a presentation! It was a real micro lesson. That was how it was supposed to be since the beginning of the presentations. I’m not saying this because they are my friends; I’m saying it because I feel that way.

They presented the topic and made has involve during the presentation by reading paragraphs, answering questions and giving opinions. They used the whiteboard (a tool that we should use more) and they moved around the classroom. They were very clear. The activity part was fun. They made us talk a lot, and besides the activity they had a little discussion that was also fun. At the end of the micro lesson they gave us a handout very useful to identify a leader from an administrator. Good for them. Nice job.

That same day, before the micro lesson, Mr. Litman and we (the class) talked about opinions and about the class in general. It’s true that we don’t take advantage of the talking time that Mr. Litman gives us. We should be talking more and present our points of view more often. He said that he doesn’t want to be talking all the time and that we should go ahead and talk, without paying attention to our fears. Maybe because we are shy or insecure we don’t speak enough. I believe that we are learning from our mistakes and that we should make more to improve our English. Otherwise, how can we learn if we don’t make mistakes? At the end one suggestion was made: add a debate at the end of every micro lesson, make the classmates share their opinions and talk more. I think this is a great idea as long as it works in the way it’s supposed to.

Boys’ Presentation on Bullying.

Claudio, Pedro and Fabián talked about bullying inside the class and other kinds of bullying outside the class, like using the mass media for bullying.

They started with the definition and the causes, mentioning the school reality of these days and the importance of family in children’s values.

They talked about what to do if your child is the victim or the aggressor, the parents’ role and the values against violence and injustice, which are very important in children’s education.

They showed a video with students punching and kicking other students. This video presented some bullying examples that are part of daily life in some schools around the world.

They end with consequences such as psychological problems in the victims or changes in the whole life of these boys. Some examples were shown also. I remember the case of a young girl who committed suicide because of being bulled by her classmates. What a sad story.

The same problem with the previous presentations; a very good and interesting presentation but no preoccupation on the activities. I think we all forgot that it was a micro lesson and not only a presentation. I accept though, the fact that the clock was on them. They had no time for activities.

Girl’s Presentation on Teacher’s personality.

Dreny, Nicole and Katherine talked about how we should be in front of a class, how we could improve what we already know but don’t practice and how we should behave with students correctly.

They mentioned the different kind of teachers. Among them we can find involver, diagnostician, etc.

They made a good presentation with a very interesting video about the story of a teacher and her prejudices about a boy with no interest in class. The ending of the story was really emotive. It was a sad story but with a happy ending.

The only thing they forgot was the participation of the class in a higher level. They had the same problem that my group and I had. We paid more attention to the presentation than the class itself.

April 29th, 08

Yesterday, Mr. Litman talked about our presentations. After every presentation he reviewed the power point with us to learn from our mistakes. We realized of grammatical and spelling mistakes and methodological mistakes that we usually make.

He showed us a short video called “Life”. In this video we can see a small guy coming down through some stairs and sits down on a chair. In front of him there’s a table with a phone on it. This phone has 6 numbers only. The guy press number 1 and we can see something like “the election of a planet from a galaxy”. Then press number 2, and the planet receives a zoom in. Number 3 shows us nature, number 4 animals, numbers 5 people and number 6 buildings, cities. All of these things appeared on the planet but this guy realizes that there’s more. With a pair of binoculars he can see people fighting each other, violence, crimes, desperation and chaos. On the phone we can see the option of deleting, so this guy presses the delete button and the planet is deleted. This is a consequence of what he did.

He realizes that the construction of a planet always ends in the same way. He might wonder why violence and crime is always a consequence of civilization. He doesn’t know that is part of life. This is how we live today; in a world with no peace. That was many years ago. Now everybody gets corrupted easily. Violence and crime are right around the corner and to change that we are going to need so many years of education and evolution. Maybe. I think we haven’t evolved yet.

Today’s class

Mr Litman talked about different issues. He mentioned Sheldon, the guy that talks about 3 kinds of body personality: mesomorphs, endomorphs, and ectomorphes. I should belong to the third kind because I’m thin. And maybe I’m a little bit tall.

He also talked about some verbs that we are not using in the right way, like lose and loose. He talked about this because he has seen these mistakes in some of our writings.

He also talked about teachers’ involvement in class, regarding linguistic competence and communicative competence. This was something related with my presentation later on. (Classroom management)

When my classmates and I presented the topic of Classroom management everything was all right. Rodrigo made a good presentation, a little bit longer than expected but very well. Eduardo seemed very self-confident about what he said but I think I wasn’t. I don’t know what happened to me. I was concerned about the time, that my classmates were taking too long and that we forgot to print the handout prepared. I think those things distracted me when the time of my presentation came. I’m not glad with my presentation. I know I could have made it better. Well, one of the ideas that I mentioned and that in this case make perfect sense to me is: “to learn from our mistakes”.

Last Tuesday Class and Facebook

Mr. Litman talked about our future presentations. We should be able to present different topics that might be of interest for us. He also took us to the computer lab where we create a facebook account and a blogger account the ones who didn't have one. We also choose our topic for the next presentation. My topic will be "Classroom management" and I'll try to do my best.

Somebody told me that Facebook was addictive. Now I realize how right she was... There are a lot of things to do and I found myself doing a never-ending quizz of movies for hours! Really addictive.
Anyway, if you have a facebook account and I don't have you as a friend, let me know. We can work it out.



Regards.

The Beginning

This Blog has been created to write about different topics, ideas and experiences. I am going to be updating my blog once in a while.

This could be fun.